So Says President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry Mian Abrar Ahmad at Consulate of Pakistan in Houston

By Ilyas Choudry, TMO

Congressional Recognitions Received from the Offices of Honorable Congresspersons Sheila Jackson Lee and AL Green

Trade Delegation from Karachi Chamber of Commerce

Houston, Texas (Our Special Correspondent): A seven member high profile delegation of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), under the leadership of President Mian Abrar Ahmad spent their first full day of activities during their tour of Houston, Texas, USA, at the end of which on Thursday, May 17th morning, the delegation will travel to capitol city of the State of Texas Austin. Today, Monday, May 14th, 2012, the KCCI delegation went to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake City near Houston. They looked at the various displays and extensive briefing at the Center, to learn how the scientific programs of this agency of the Government of USA have evolved since 1958, one year before KCCI was formed in 1959. Later on in the evening, the delegation attended a special dinner, arranged in their honor by the Consul General of Pakistan in Houston Honorable Muhammad Aqil Nadeem. Large number of American and Pakistani-Americans of diverse background were in attendance, including prominent media, social, entrepreneurial, and professional personalities. They included City of Houston Councilperson Honorable Mike Laster representing Mayor Annise Parker; President of Sister Cities of Houston Mrs. Ellen Goldberg, President of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH) Dr. Aziz Siddiqi, General Secretary of Pakistani-American Association of Greater Houston (PAGH) Mian Nazir, Past President of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce USA (PCC-USA) Pervez Khan Swati, Office Bearers of Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) Jamil Daudi & Mrs. Noorunisa, and many more.

â€œThis trip of KCCI constitutes the fulfillment of one of the salient features of HKSCA Charter, that is to foster and establish trade relations between business entities of Houston and Karachi,â€ added Mr. Sheikh.

Amidst applause, Mr. Sheikh announced that HKSCA for spearheading the Alliance of Pakistan Floods Relief Efforts, has received the prestigious Innovative Humanitarian Award from the Sisters Cities International, which s a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between United States and international communities. Under this, more than 2,000 cities, states and counties are partnered in 136 countries around the world; as such for Houston-Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA) to get this prestigious award among such a huge bunch of cities, is indeed testimony of expatriates Pakistanis, in enhancing the name of Pakistan through their philanthropic endeavor.

Gareth Morgans from the Office of Honorable Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who is the Founding Co-Chair of Congressional Pakistani Caucus, and Sam merchant from the Office of Honorable Congressman AL Green, gave special certificates of recognition to President of KCCI Mian Abrar Ahmad, for the positive role and efforts of KCCI in fostering commerce relations between USA and Pakistan.

In his most passionate and forceful speech, President of KCCI Mian Abrar Ahmad said: â€œWe in Pakistan do not need any aid from anyone including USA. What we need is access to trade, especially USA. Pakistan enjoys easy access to three important blocks of the world. Pakistan is the Gateway to Iran & Turkey; then secondly to the eight South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries including Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh; and third block being the Central Asian Countries. These blocks are not just for Pakistan to enjoy, but for all of our trusted partners. Recently the decadeâ€™s long atmosphere of animosity with India has changed due to people to people trade between Pakistani and Indian businesses, that have lead to now general publicâ€™s stake in each othersâ€™ countries, which means people and commerce now dictates the relations between Pakistan & India, which are most cordial because of this open trade. Similarly if USA opens up and gives proper access to Pakistani businesses, in turn Pakistan not only provides her own market for American goods, but is the gateway that USA businesses can use to access so many lucrative markets. This delegation will be meeting policy and law makers in Washington DC, and we will stress upon the US Congresspersonsâ€™ & decision makers at the State Department that in the next few months when the Bilateral Investment Treat (BIT) will be signed between USA and Pakistan; that should not be the end; in fact that should be followed by signing of Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as without FTA, BIT is not useful. There should be no discrimination between developed, developing, under developed, and least developed countries as far as trade is concerned. Field should be open for all. Despite energy crisis resulting in only eight hours of productive work as compared to 24 hours in many countries of the world; foreign imported terrorism into Pakistan; war on terror in Afghanistan; despite all these predicaments, Pakistanis have shown resilience and are competing well with China and India. What if we have stable Pakistan that will even contribute more towards the financial uplifting the world economy needs at the moment in these times of fiscal crisis. KCCI has the aim that in the next few years, we are going to increase the trade of Pakistan from $25 million to over $200 million per year and significantly increase it per year here-after. One way towards a stable Pakistan is to respect the sovereignty of Pakistan in making her own energy policy, which the world should be rest assured will be a mature policy. At present Pakistan is not allowed to use nuclear energy while France produces 80% through nuclear technology; many countries of the world utilize coal to produce energy, while Pakistan is discouraged to use her own second largest in the world reserves of coal to make energy, and then Pakistan cannot get access to gas, since pipeline is not being allowed to come via Iran. BIT followed by FTA with USA will do the necessary thing of revamping the relationships between USA and Pakistan, which are in as much of American interest as they are for Pakistan.â€

In the concluding speech, Consul General of Pakistan in Houston Honorable Muhammad Aqil Nadeem expressed his good wishes for a successful trip of KCCI to USA; and stressed that the State of Texas itself is the largest business partner of Pakistan, and provides excellent opportunities in the fields of Renewable & Clean Energies like Wind Energy; and IT. He said the next delegation to the State of Texas and USA of KCCI should also include people from Energy and IT sectors.

In the end, mementos were exchanged between KCCI and HKSCA, plus traditional Ajraks & Caps (Topis) of the Province of Sindh Pakistan were given by KCCI delegation members to some of the notables present on the occasion.